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Digital Legacies – Succession Planning in the Information Age

The European Law Institute has now published Model Rules on Succession and Access to Digital Remains.  Jack Burroughs, from Quastels’ Private Wealth and Tax team, represented STEP (The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) in this project.

The difficulties of a digital legacy

Those who die increasingly leave behind a large variety of digital remains.  From files on a person’s own devices, to cloud storage and online accounts stored remotely, to entirely new forms of asset like cryptoassets, these may have significant financial or sentimental value.

However, the law has been slow to catch up in this area.  The ELI’s Model Rules are therefore an important and very welcome development.

Some of the confusion around the legal treatment of digital remains has arisen from attempts to treat all of these disparate things in the same way.  The Model Rules have avoided this by recognising a clear distinction.

On the one hand, there are things that can be controlled and transferred (such as cryptoassets), which are referred to in the Model Rules as ‘digital assets’.  On the other hand, there are those things intrinsically linked to a person’s personality, identity or private life (such as digital files and online accounts, or even AI chatbots trained on that individual), which are referred to as ‘personal digital remains’.

These two different types of digital remains present different legal difficulties, and so the Model Rules set out two separate legal regimes to deal with them.

Digital Assets

There is a lack of certainty in some jurisdictions as to whether digital assets are subject to property rights, and subject to succession law upon the owner’s death.  The Model Rules deal with this problem by confirming that digital assets will be subject to the succession law that would apply to moveable property.  The question of which succession law applies will be determined by the applicable private international law.

In addition, the Model Rules require service providers to provide mechanisms and rules to ensure the orderly transfer of digital assets.  For example, this would require a cryptoasset custodian to have systems in place to be able to transfer control of the cryptoassets it holds for a deceased person to the relevant personal representative or heirs.

However, in cases where a person has self-custody of their cryptoassets, there will be no service provider to assist, and so it is important for such individuals and their advisors to ensure they have an adequate cryptoasset succession plan to ensure the right people will gain access to their private keys at the right time.

Personal digital remains

A major problem in digital legacy planning has been dealing with personal digital remains.  Treatment varies between jurisdictions, but typically these are not regarded as subject to property or succession law.   Though less of a problem when it comes to files and information stored on a deceased person’s own devices, often many personal digital remains will be under the control of third parties such as email hosts, cloud storage providers, or social media companies. In such cases, heirs and personal representatives may be at the mercy of the contractual terms and policies of overseas tech companies, which are rarely designed with succession planning in mind (see for example STEP’s comparative study).

Other jurisdictions have provided solutions, such as the legislation based on the Uniform Law Commission’s Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act enacted in most states of the USA.  However, this will generally not assist European residents.

The Model Rules would therefore be of great benefit in this respect. They work on the basis of a right of access, rather than attempting to apply succession law, and they empower the individual to decide what happens to their personal digital remains upon death.  This means that they may choose to direct the deletion of certain things, or to explicitly nominate other people to have access.  In the absence of specific nomination, the heirs and personal representatives will have the right of access.

There are provisions for the protection of third party interests, including the right to request access where a legitimate interest can be demonstrated, or to request restrictions on access where rights are threatened. Furthermore, there are also provisions to resolve disputes between those entitled to access.

Crucially, these rules would take priority over any contractual terms, except where a service provider can prove such terms were individually negotiated with the deceased person. They would also require service providers to preserve personal digital remains for at least five years, unless the deceased explicitly directed otherwise, or the persons entitled to exercise the access right request deletion.

As time goes by, digital legacies will be of increasing financial and sentimental importance, and therefore it is vital that planning is not hindered by unclear law and inconsistent terms of service.  Hopefully therefore the UK will move to enact legislation based on these Model Rules.

A version of this article originally appeared on the ELI’s website.

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INTERPOL’s Silver Notices and India’s Crypto Crackdown: Legal Implications for Cross Border Asset Recovery

In a development of growing significance to cross border legal practitioners and asset protection advisors, INTERPOL has introduced a new category of international alert: the Silver Notice. This tool, designed to trace and recover criminal assets globally, represents a material evolution in the architecture of international law enforcement. In May 2025, India issued its first ever Silver Notices, applying the mechanism in two high value crypto fraud cases. The move signals a more assertive posture by Indian authorities and underscores a broader trend of convergence between asset recovery, financial regulation, and cross border policing.

What Is An INTERPOL Silver Notice?

Launched in January 2025, the Silver Notice is INTERPOL‘s latest alert mechanism, joining its suite of colour coded notices such as the Red (wanted persons) and Blue (location of suspects). Uniquely, the Silver Notice is designed not to locate individuals, but to trace proceeds of crime, including real estate, corporate interests, financial accounts, and digital assets such as cryptocurrency wallets and NFTs.

The mechanism operates under INTERPOL Rules on the Processing of Data (RPD) and is primarily used to facilitate international cooperation in asset identification and restraint, often preceding mutual legal assistance requests or asset seizure applications in local courts.

India’s First Silver Notice: A Strategic Shift

As part of a pilot involving 51 participating countries, India has deployed its first ever Silver Notices in the following two matters:

Shubham Shokeen

A former visa officer at the French Embassy in Delhi, accused of issuing Schengen visas in exchange for bribes ranging from  ₹15 lakh to ₹45 lakh per applicant. The proceeds were allegedly used to purchase luxury property in Dubai valued at 15.7 crore. India had earlier issued a Blue Notice to locate Mr Shokeen; the Silver Notice now aims to trace and recover his Dubai assets.

Amit Lakhanpal

The founder of a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme, MTC, which raised ₹113 crore from investors without regulatory approval. Lakhanpal is accused of impersonating a senior government official and misappropriating funds internationally. A Red Notice was previously issued against him; the new Silver Notice targets the recovery of assets generated by the scam.

The significance of these notices cannot be overstated. This is not only India’s first deployment of this enforcement tool, it is also one of the first globally, placing India at the forefront of INTERPOL’s new asset recovery regime.

Legal Analysis: Implications for the UK and Cross Border Practice

For clients and advisers with international exposure, particularly those operating in digital finance or holding property abroad, Silver Notices introduce a new category of legal risk. From a UK legal standpoint, several key frameworks come into focus:

1. Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) and Civil Recovery. Under Part 5 of POCA, UK enforcement agencies such as NCA or HMRC can initiate civil recovery proceedings based on foreign intelligence, including INTERPOL notices. A Silver Notice involving assets in the UK could prompt an Account Freezing Order (AFO) or Property Freezing Order (PFO), even in the absence of domestic criminal proceedings.
2. Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. Recent amendments under this legislation have strengthened the ability of UK agencies to seize and convert crypto assets linked to criminal activity. These powers can be exercised on the basis of intelligence from foreign jurisdictions, including INTERPOL alerts, if properly supported by evidence.
3. Mutual Legal Assistance and Bilateral Agreements. The UK India Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and provisions under the Crime (International Co operation) Act 2003 permit cooperation in tracing and seizing assets, even where those assets are held by nominee structures, SPVs, or in anonymised digital wallets. A Silver Notice can serve as a basis for initiating such cooperation.
4. Due Process and Abuse Safeguards. Silver Notices do not currently undergo the same scrutiny as Red Notices, but clients subject to one may experience reputational harm, banking restrictions, or immigration complications. There remains the possibility of challenging such notices before INTERPOL’s Commission for the Control of Files (CCF) on grounds such as procedural fairness, abuse of process, or violation of due process norms.

Strategic Guidance for Clients and Institutions

The emergence of Silver Notices has direct implications for:

• Private clients with cross border wealth structures
• Crypto asset holders, including early investors and exchangers
• Family offices managing international portfolios
• Banks and fiduciaries with KYC and PEP screening obligations

At Quastels, we advise clients facing complex international scrutiny and enforcement risks, including INTERPOL alerts, crypto seizures, and asset protection matters. Our multi-disciplinary approach spans immigration, international protection, and cross border support.

Conclusion

The deployment of Silver Notices marks a pivotal shift in the global enforcement landscape, signalling that suspected financial crime, particularly involving digital assets, will increasingly be met with proactive, internationally coordinated responses. For individuals and institutions with cross border exposure, the focus is no longer solely on personal liability but on the traceability and recovery of assets, wherever they are held.

At Quastels, we are uniquely positioned to guide clients through this complex terrain, combining technical expertise in international protection, and immigration with a strategic understanding of international enforcement trends.

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From Likes to Legacy: Succession Planning for Influencers

Digital estate planning is an essential aspect of modern estate planning, especially as we spend more time online and accumulate valuable digital assets.

For some individuals, the digital world has evolved into a space where they have been able to grow their own personal brand and following, and platforms to generate substantial wealth through influencer marketing, brand deals and sponsorships, as well as their own business ventures.

Content creators and influencers have valuable intellectual property (IP) tied to their social media presence and digital content. For this growing group of individuals, digital estate planning is becoming increasingly important, to ensure their digital assets are properly managed, protected and passed on after their death.

What is Digital Estate Planning?

Digital estate planning refers to the process of managing and organising an individual’s online assets, digital accounts, and IP in the event of their death or incapacitation.

This process is especially important for influencers and content creators, whose livelihoods are deeply intertwined with their online presence.

The unique business model and asset profile of an influencer presents specific challenges for estate planning, including the non-transferability of digital assets, the need to clearly identify digital assets, the structuring of IP and brand ownership to avoid legal disputes, and creating clear guidelines and restrictions for posthumous content use, if desired.

Management of Digital Assets

With the growth of numerous social media networks and online revenue streams, content creators and influencers often manage multiple online platforms, each with unique policies regarding account access and transferability after death.

Importantly for digital estate planning, digital property cannot vest with the executors or personal representatives of an estate if it cannot be identified, accessed and retrieved. Accordingly, there are crucial steps that should be taken, particularly by those whose digital assets hold significant financial value, to ensure that their digital assets, which are often intangible, pass safely to the intended beneficiaries.

A frequently updated list or inventory of digital assets and accounts serves as the foundation of an individual’s digital estate plan and is essential to ensure that digital assets are accounted for and not overlooked. For content creators and influencers, this includes, but is not limited to, their social media accounts, IP, revenue-generating sources like ad revenue from YouTube or TikTok, affiliate marketing or income from digital courses or products, as well as digital collectibles such as NFTs or cryptocurrency.

Compliance with account access and terms of service agreements is crucial when managing digital assets, and advice concerning the Computer Misuse Act 1990 ought to be taken.

Legal and Financial Clarity

An influencer’s name, logo, and digital content can constitute and amount to a financially valuable estate, and can continue to generate revenue even after death. However, if the ownership of the IP rights is not clearly defined and legally structured, disputes may arise between beneficiaries, business partners, and brand managers, potentially complicating the administration of the estate.

Standard personal possession legacies in Wills are often phrased in terms of the statutory definition of personal possessions, or personal chattels, under the Administration of Estates Act 1925. The definition, however, does not include property interests in digital assets that, by their nature, are intangible.

For Wills that do not specifically bequest an individuals’s digital assets, the digital assets form part of the residue of an estate and will pass to the residuary beneficiaries. This, however, may not be in line with the individual’s wishes.

For individuals with valuable digital assets, a separate digital assets clause is therefore essential, and should be drafted to include instructions and guidance on the access and management of the digital assets it disposes of. Careful consideration should be taken with respect to the wording of this clause, to avoid the inclusion of digital assets that an individual may wish to dispose of separately, either via a separate gift or Will trust.

Thought should also be taken if appointing a digital executor, to ensure they have the required technical knowledge to administer the digital estate. A digital executor’s responsibility may include gaining access to accounts and revenue sources, deciding whether to continue, sell, or shut down the brand, negotiating brand deals on behalf of the beneficiaries, and protecting IP from misuse.

Posthumous Control

For content creators and influencers, their digital content is often deeply personal, and reflective of their own creativity and individual journey. For some, it is important to plan for their IP’s future use, to ensure that their digital legacy aligns with their values and wishes, even after they are gone.

For those who wish to control how their content is used post-death, it is essential to define ownership, put in place the appropriate structures, and specify any limitations on how that content can be used. This can include limiting commercial exploitation, restricting artificial intelligence (AI) modifications, controlling brand collaborations, or setting timelines for the use or licensing of content.

With rapid advances in AI technology, including AI content modifications, recreations and deepfakes, it is feasible, more so now than ever, for new content to be created in the style of the original creator, whether that be new audios or videos, that may not necessarily be in line with the deceased’s original intent or beliefs, leading to the possibility for an individual’s likeness to be exploited and their legacy tarnished, if not appropriately addressed before death.

Helping You Find the Right Solution

In the digital age, digital estate planning, particularly for those who have a significant online presence, is an increasingly important and complex aspect of estate planning. By taking steps to document your IP, and communicating your wishes early, you can ensure that your digital legacy not only passes to your intended beneficiaries, but aligns with your personal and professional values, even after you are gone.

To discuss your requirements and find out how we can help you, please get in touch.

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